Ron Weasley's Rules for Rose:

Get into Gryffindor.

Become as smart as her mother.

Optional: Try out for Gryffindor Keeper.

Non-negotiable: No fraternizing with Slytherin House. Especially not with Scorpius Malfoy.

Part 1

Quills scratching over parchment were the only sounds that could be heard in the quiet, almost empty, classroom. Rose Weasley was the only student inside besides a Ravenclaw who was sitting in a corner. Her quill was going dry, but she couldn't stop, not now. She had almost completed her essay on the giant wars for History of Magic, and she wasn't going to stop to dip her...but alas, she had to, if she were to finish. It was three rolls of parchment in addition to the two rolls Professor Binns had assigned. She hoped he wouldn't mind. Luckily, the additional time she was spending was only taking up lunch and not another class. She couldn't miss a class if she were going to live up to her reputation as the smartest Gryffindor in third year. How could she not be, given the fact that Hermione Granger was her mother?

She was proud of her parentage. Hermione was the head of Magical Law Enforcement for the Ministry of Magic, and had rewritten, reissued, and memorized every law, misdemeanor, and level of punishment that was officially in print. Ron, her father, was heading the Auror department with her Uncle Harry. Times were slow, though, because all of the known Deatheaters were in Azkaban and Voldemort was no more, thanks to Rose's parents and Harry.

Well, Aunt Ginny had helped, Rose thought. As did Professor Longbottom, and most of the school as it had been then, anyway. Professor Binns was the only original teacher of Rose's parents and that was because he was a ghost. Rose stopped writing. She had finished. She placed her quill carefully into her bag with the ink and walked up to Professor Binns' desk.

"Professor?" she asked tentatively. He didn't respond.

"Ahem. Professor?" she asked a little louder. It then occurred to her that he was asleep.

"PROFESSOR!" she yelled, causing the Ravenclaw to look up at her, glaring. Binns jumped.

"Sorry, so sorry, must've dozed off. You wanted something, Tulip?"

"Rose. And here's my giant wars essay. It's a tad bit long, but..." she handed it to him, but he just set it down on his desk and fell asleep once more.

"Okay...well, I'll just be going now," she said quietly, slipping away from his desk without another word. She gathered her things and left the classroom. A loud shout from the Great Hall made her break into a run. It sounded like Hugo! Her younger brother was a first year, but he was tough. Why he would shout in fear like that, Rose couldn't contemplate. She ran faster.

Hugo Weasley was standing on a bench, gaping at the floor. Albus and James Potter were trying to smash the huge spider that Scorpius Malfoy had let in as a joke because someone would squirm. Unfortunately he had been right. Hugo climbed onto the table, trying to get as far from the spider as possible. Why, out of all his father's traits, he had to inherit Ron's fear of spiders, Rose couldn't understand.

Scorpius grinned at the first year's predicament and laughed harder. One of his friends high-fived him. Only then did he notice the auburn-haired beauty at the Great Hall's entrance. Rose. Scorpius had liked her from the moment he saw her on Platform Nine and Three Quarters, but his father, Draco, forbade any communication with "mudbloods, half-bloods, or that 'Potter-Weasley' crowd." That pretty much denied Scorpius relations with anyone outside of Slytherin house. Not many Slytherins wanted to speak with anyone outside their house, but Scorpius didn't care about bloodlines as much as his friends and his father. Draco was a quiet and bitter man, always muttering about things Scorpius didn't understand. Things like: "I can't believe he saved my life," or "I'll be damned if I apologize to a mudblood and a traitor." Scorpius knew it had something to do with Rose and her family, but when he had asked, Draco had only replied, "They're just acquaintances, but I don't want you talking to them." That had only been the beginning of things Draco forbade him to do. Scorpius had learned at an early age not to question Draco's rules and most of the time just ignored him.

Rose strode up the hall and squashed the arachnid with her shoes, wincing slightly as she was slightly afraid of spiders as well, although not to the extent that Hugo was, cowering on the table like some three-year-old about to wet himself. She offered Hugo her hand so he could get off of the table. James was standing in front of her, chest puffed out as if he had killed the spider himself. Albus just shook his head and sat down on the bench. Rose mimicked him and shook her head at her cousins. Lily just rolled her eyes at the entire ordeal and continued eating her porridge. Rose looked at Scorpius, who immediately stopped laughing.

"If you ever try to scare my brother again, or harm him in any way, you'll wish you'd never been born," she said softly and murderously. He just smiled and winked at her as he turned back to his friends. She scoffed and glanced at her brother.

"Are you alright?" she asked, concerned.

"I'm fine! I don't need your help, I was handling it on my own!"

"Oh, I could see that, Mr. Ego," she said sarcastically. The clock below them chimed one o'clock, and Rose turned away from her family and hurried to her next class.

Scorpius watched as Rose turned the corner onto the corridor in which he was loitering, headed for Arithmancy. Scorpius had a feeling her mother had forced her to take it, the way Draco muttered about how the mudblood Granger had been so much smarter than he had been.

"And then she married Weaselbee and their daughter's going to be the same way," Scorpius quoted. He had a feeling Draco was hiding some complicated feelings from the world. Scorpius changed direction from Herbology and cornered Rose near a closet.

Rose felt someone push her into the wall and was about to swing her books into his face when he grabbed her arm.

"Scorpius," she breathed in shock as she recognized the face. He grinned.

"What do you want?" she asked, sighing.

"I'm sorry I scared your brother,' he said.

"I'll tell him you said so. But why aren't you telling him yourself?" He pressed his finger to her lips, freeing her arm.

"Because I wanted an excuse to talk to you. Alone," he whispered.

"Scorpius, you're a Slytherin. I'm a Gryffindor. We shouldn't be talking at all!" she hissed, pulling away from his finger.

"Oh, good point. That and the fact my father forbade me to talk to you! You think that's going to stop me?" he asked sarcastically.

"My father told me to outsmart you in every class. He doesn't want some 'son of Draco's' getting ahead of me. Like that's ever going to happen," she scoffed.

"Oh, thank you for that. So you see, we especially shouldn't be talking..."

"Exactly! What if we're found out?"

"...but truth be told, I don't give a damn what my father says; I like you!" he burst out suddenly.

"Scorpius," Rose began calmly, "I'm late for class and as flattering as that is, our families told us to avoid one another, and I think that's best."

"Their history doesn't concern us, Rose! So they have issues, who cares? So we're in rival houses, who cares? You're beautiful and smart, and my father can go to hell, for all I care!" And then he kissed her. She stiffened.

How could this be happening? she asked herself.

How could the offspring of my family's enemy love me? But soon those thoughts left as she softened. His lips were warm and moist, gentle on her own, not hard and forceful as she would have expected from a Slytherin. She kissed him back, letting this tenderness fill her up. Her family, her friends...they didn't make her feel this way – this loved, this cared for, this...enjoyed by another human being who was forbidden to even look at her... and who was kissing her right now. Rose saw movement out of the corner of her eye that made her break away unwillingly. She smiled at Scorpius apologetically and ran down the flight of stairs to Arithmancy.